Before I get rolling, I want to touch on an idea for ease of play and campaign flow. When it comes to Battletech, there are no set army lists. Because of this, a players core force will change from battle to battle as it is randomly generated before the game begins. In order to insure that everyone hs enough to play, and there is always an opponent to play, I suggest you pool your available models. At the studio we will have ample selection of miniatures for every faction involved which are pooled for use by any player when required. Because this variety may take many people and their individual collections to achieve in some groups, communicate between eachother and work together to build a club force pool. This ensures that even if one person does not show up on a given week, there is still enough models for any other person to play and use the faction when required. It is quite easy for a 3 or 4 person group to make a few extra lances for general use. Moving on...
In every Firestorm Campaign, there is a sequence of events that every player must complete in order, each campaign turn before moving on to the next turn. This sequence is called the Battle Phase. This is close linked to the same idea as the General's Phase which we will touch on later. Assume this all refers to the campaign era between 3068-3069 for now.
The steps in the Battle Phase are as follows below:
Order One: Manouvre Step
1. Select an opponent - For this step you can play a game against anyone who is currently standing around picking their nose or otherwise not being productive.
2. Roll for Initiative - This remains as is, although there are more then 2 factions, so each faction commander rolls 2D6 to determine initiative. If the roll is a tie, the Word of Blake player wins the initiative. (Represents that nobody knew what they were up to.)
First campaign turn, the Black Dragon Commanders have a +1 to their rolls.
3. Place a Battle Arrow
4. Choose Firestorm Troops - Special conditions for areas containing strategic points ie; bridges and airfields etc... will be detailed later. Certain Firestorm markers could represent a variable mix of forces vs a specific unit. See each markers description for this information.
5. Check for Supply Status - Because a city has many routes of travel on the surface, above and below the ground, being in supply remains fairly straight forward. Any city hex is in supply as long as it remains directly connected to another city hex that is in supply and not cut off from a supply depot hex. Non city hexes, and city hexes with Bridges follow the normal rules for supply in the Firestorm Rulebook.
Force Condition is directly related to the effects of being out of supply, and therefore replaces the Out Of Supply table in the Firestorm Rulebook. Also, even though Battletech lacks an in game morale system, troops from units rated as Fanatical will always fight to the death when defending and out of supply.
Airborne Supply will still have a roll in Battletech as presented in Firestorm: Market Garden, but I will explain that later.
Order Two: Combat Step
1. Identify your Mission - A set scenario list will be made available shortly, but you can choose to use those in Jihad Turning Points: Luthien if you would like. I will be using more Flames of War influence when modernising the Battletech scenario format in my list.
Air support both conventional & aerospace will be allowed to be used in support on any hex, including city tiles. However, no air support will be allowed in supply areas as they will be too well defended by AA units, unless being used in an interdiction role.
2. Play a Game of Battletech - Other then needing to generate your core force with the campaign charts provided or with a little GM help, this step goes as is.
Order Three: After Action Step
1. Roll to Destroy Firestorm Markers - The new Battletech scenario pool will use a similar scoring system to the Flames of War scenarios. Therefore this stage can stand as is.
2. Retreat Defeated Troops
3. Advance Victorious Troops
*Note that I may have added steps in addition to the usual to accomdate for some of Battletech's unique requirments. If I did not mention specific changes then it stands as writin in the Firestorm book.
I also take this time to say that everyone who wants to give this system a try should pick up a Firestorm Campaign box set, which is also a cool stand alone WWII board game so you have all the rules required that I do not mention here. You do not require any Flames of War to play the board game version of Firestorm. Available through Battlefront Miniatures.
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